The Cities, Security and Poverty

Abstract

The 2013 Meeting of the World Society for Ekistics was held in Ankara, Turkey under the theme of ‘The Cities, Security and Poverty’. The proceedings of this international meeting, edited by Meltem Yılmaz and H. Çağatay Keskinok, forms an overarching perspective for the changing power relations of the global world and its socio-spatial implications on human settlements with reference to the key issues of weakening public sphere and communality, increasing socio-spatial fragmentations and inequalities, and emerging security problems related with both political insurgences and environmental risks and degradations. Although the content of the proceedings book is not structured under certain sub-headings and themes, it is possible to categorize the contributions of the compilation of 18 distinctive articles as follow: (i) changing power relations and its implications on society and public sphere; (ii) spatial manifestations of changing power relations, spatial transformation and segregation; (iii) crime and security problems in urban spaces; (iv) ecological transitions and sustainability issues; (v) disaster risks and security concerns. The review of this valuable book would bring forward the problematic issues of security and poverty by especially highlighting the recent socio-spatial experiences in Turkish cities and hopefully offer a humble contribution for the upcoming Special Issue: Turkey, Urbanism and the New Habitat.